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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22410649">too quick, or too slow?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/dttubbo'>dttubbo (orphan_account)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>a/b/o markhyuck, nomin, chensung [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Almost Possibly Unrequited Love (But Not Really), Alpha Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Alpha Lee Jeno, Alpha Park Jisung, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Feelings Realization, Flirting, Getting Together, I made it, Jealousy, Lee Jeno is Whipped, M/M, Na Jaemin-centric, Omega Mark Lee (NCT), Omega Na Jaemin, Omega Zhong Chen Le, are you proud, chensung is like barelythere SORRY, hi again, i did not mean to make 3k, markhyuck is minor i GUESS, pleas comment :(, that wasn't a tag</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:01:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,552</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22410649</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/dttubbo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaemin smiled a pretty smile that had the alpha waiter giving him a wolfish grin back, one that Jaemin hoped wasn’t supposed to mean anything. He wanted to be polite, not be given a number tonight, especially with the other boys with them. </p><p>or, </p><p> </p><p>nomin and markhyuck go to a restaurant and an alpha waiter takes interest in jaemin. (ft. chensung in like the first half)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>a/b/o markhyuck, nomin, chensung [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>336</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>too quick, or too slow?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hello there. i made this in like 3 days,, because of school i was really busy and planned on finishing this earlier but that did not happen (if you couldn't tell) and i really did not mean to write like 3.5k </p><p>i don't even know how it happened, it's all a blur</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jaemin nodded, writing down the neatly written notes off of his friend’s notebook, and flips the page to continue scribbling the rest of it down. “So, what’s happening with you and Jeno,” Seungmin quietly whispered to him, “Are you guys, like, together? I know I’m sensitive to stuff like that, but anytime he sees an alpha near you, he scents you like crazy. Like he’s trying to mark you as his territory, or something.” Seungmin kicked Jaemin under the table, as he pulled on his sweater. “Oh, you’re one to talk, Seungminnie! You know how hard it is to watch you and Hyunjin in public? I really thought you’d be the one to be more possessive, but Hyunjin really doesn’t let any alphas near you. Ever.” Jaemin spoke loudly, startling Seungmin and practically everyone in the entire library. Jaemin pushed the notebook back to Seungmin, and watched as he huffed and shoved his notebook into his bag before moving to get up. “Well,” Seungmin started, “I have a date with Hyunjin. But don’t think you’re gonna be able to avoid that question forever!” Jaemin stilled for a second, before shoving Seungmin and saying, “We’re just friends, Seungminnie!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin watched as Seungmin left the library, and felt many people staring at him, most likely because he had raised his voice in the library twice in less than 5 minutes. He thought about what Seungmin said, was Jeno really trying to scent-mark him?  Jaemin had previously written it off as Jeno just being really affectionate, but the former never saw Jeno ever do that with anyone else. Jaemin shook his head, wanting to avoid only thinking about Jeno for the rest of the day, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Not like I don’t anyway. Wait, do I like Jeno? How did I even start thinking about this?’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaemin pondered, shaken by his own thoughts. Jaemin quickly pushed his own notebook into his bag, almost tripping over his own feet when he got out of his chair. He pulled out his phone from his hoodie pocket to check the time, scoffing when he realized that it was only 2 pm. He had plans to meet with Jeno, Mark, and Donghyuck at around 6 pm, and had left a lot more time to meet up with Seungmin at the library and go over some of his missed work from during his absences. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin planned to walk back to his apartment and stay there until they had planned to meet at Jeno’s apartment, but Jaemin considered heading straight to Jeno’s house and sleeping there, something he did very often. Jeno gave him a spare key, anyways, so it had to be some type of invitation. Sometimes Jaemin would wake up in Jeno’s bed after falling asleep in another obscure place in Jeno’s apartment, but he didn’t even put much thought into it. Jaemin bit his lower lip as he turned around and proceeded to begin walking to Jeno’s house. He was almost halfway there when he heard his name being called, and he turned around quickly, snapping out of his own incoherent trail of thoughts. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jaemin! Jaemin!” Chenle yelled with his high pitched dolphin voice, right into Jaemin’s face as he managed to turn around right as both Chenle and Jisung had gotten up to him. “Sorry, Jaemin, but I couldn’t stop him before he ran all the way up to you.” Jisung voiced from where he was attached to Chenle’s side. Jaemin moved quickly forward to pinch his cheek, and Jisung startled for a second before Chenle poked him in the stomach, moving him closer to Jaemin’s unforgiving hand. Jaemin laughed, the sound high in the air when Chenle grabbed Jisung’s other cheek, effectively surrounding the boy who was pouting with both of his cheeks held in the two omega’s hands. Chenle let go of Jisung’s cheek, and asked Jaemin, “Are you going to Jeno’s house,” a pause, before Jisung’s voice added, slightly muffled, “Why weren’t we invited? What are you guys even going over there to do?” Jaemin let go of Jisung’s cheek and responded with, “I’m going there to sleep, you little rats.” Jisung let out a terribly fake gasp of shock at the two younger boys being called rats, and Chenle fell onto the pavement beneath them like he was so insulted by Jaemin’s words that he died. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe you should stop sleeping during the day, then your sleep schedule won’t be so bad. And you won’t fall asleep in class.” Chenle told Jaemin after recovering from his fall. “Yeah, yeah, talk to me when you get more than 4 hours of sleep a night, brat.” Jaemin flicked Chenle’s forehead and moved to walk away from the raucous duo. “You won’t get away with it next time, Jaemin!” He was just barely within earshot when he heard Jisung say as he speed-walked away from the pair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin sighed, both in relief from being away from them and that he was getting out of breath. He continued walking hastily to Jeno’s apartment, only pausing to pull out the spare key when he reached the door. He twisted the key into the lock, opening the door, and shuffling inside. Jaemin tugged off his shoes and pulled on a pair of lavender slippers that were sitting near the doorway. He slipped his backpack off of his shoulders and set it onto a chair in the small kitchen. He reached for his phone in his back pocket, to see the time, which read </span>
  <em>
    <span>2:32. </span>
  </em>
  <span>In Jaemin’s opinion, 30 minutes surely wasn’t bad for the distance that it took to get to Jeno’s apartment from the library. Jaemin planned on texting Jeno that he was sleeping at his house before actually falling into the clutches of sleeping, that was reaching out for him so desperately. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Should I really stop going to sleep in the middle of the day? Probably.” Jaemin voiced out his thoughts, his voice echoing throughout the empty apartment. He walked to the living room to the couch, planning to go against any thought of establishing a healthy sleep schedule.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin sat on the couch, tossing his phone onto the small table next to the edge of the shoulder of the couch, and laid his head onto the small decorative pillow that was surprisingly comfortable for how ugly it was. Jaemin covered his eyes with his forearm, blocking any light coming in from the windows. He shuffled around the couch for a second, trying to find an enjoyable position for him to fall asleep in, for really only an hour. Jaemin knew that Jeno would try to be as punctual as possible, even when it really wasn’t needed. Jaemin fell into a dreamless sleep. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin was rudely awoken to being gently shaken, by soft yet firm hands on both of his shoulders. He opened his eyes to see Jeno staring at him, an adorable eye smile on his face. Jaemin sat up as Jeno moved away from him. “It’s 5:37. I got home a bit ago, but I thought you’d want some time to get ready.” Jeno said, watching Jaemin closely as he stretched his arms into the air like a cat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, do you have any spare clothes with you or are you planning on finding some of your clothes here?” It was common for Jaemin to sleepover at Jeno’s apartment, “accidentally” leaving his clothes there, and would say he pick them up but never did. “No.. I’ll probably just go look in your closet for some of mine,” Jaemin responded, moving to get up from his position on the couch. “Okay, but make it quick because I want to get there early.” Jeno said, poking Jaemin’s cheek and heading to another room of the house. Jaemin dragged his feet as he walked to Jeno’s room and pulled open the boy’s closet. As soon as he opened the closet, he was hit by the strong scent of Jeno, but he wasn’t too surprised by it, it was a normal scent to Jaemin, it calmed him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin scanned the closet, full of mostly dark colors; blue, black, grey, that were alongside many pairs of sweatpants and skinny jeans. He opened the drawer inside and found a pair of skinny jeans in his size, and picked up one of Jeno’s frequently used hoodies to pull over his own shirt. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hold on, does Jeno think I’m dating him? I really wouldn’t mind that. Is that why he lets me sleepover so much? This is too much for my minuscule mind to comprehend. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaemin nearly lost his footing, just barely missing a stray shoe on the ground as he moved to take off his own sweatpants and pull the jeans on. Jeno walked in the room, seeing Jaemin changing, but continued walking in. Jaemin was startled for a second, before adjusting the jeans around his hips. Jeno walked towards him, placing all of his weight onto Jaemin. Now, Jaemin thinks it wouldn’t have been so hard to carry Jeno, but the boy was mostly muscle, so he stumbled onto the bed, now laying on his back with Jeno’s face inches away from his. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin plainly looked at Jeno for a second, before being broken out of it by Jeno laughing, a sound he was plenty accustomed to. Jeno’s laughing slowed down quickly as he saw Jaemin’s plain expression. “Are you okay, Nana? You seem a little out of it today.” Jeno questioned, flipping over to hug Jaemin close to his chest. His stupid, buff fucking chest that was partially making Jaemin question everything. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I really shouldn’t be this affected, we lay next to each other. A lot. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The omega quickly nodded, going on to explain that he was just thinking about some things. Jeno seemed to hesitate before asking, “Is everything okay? You know you don’t have to tell me, but if you want to..” He trailed off, not seeming confident in himself as he spoke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, everything’s fine, Jeno. It’s just some family stuff, I guess.” Jaemin reassured him, “I would tell you if it was important, but it really isn’t.” Jaemin shrugged and moved to push himself off of the bed, and Jeno’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>remarkably buff </span>
  </em>
  <span>chest. Jeno nodded and pushed himself off the bed alongside Jaemin, asking if he was going to be ready soon. “Yeah, just let me put the sweater on and I’ll be ready. Where are we going again?” Jaemin asked, pulling the sweater from the edge of the bed and pulling it over his head. Jeno passed him as he walked over to pull on his own sweater. “I think we’re going to that new restaurant. I can’t remember the name, but it opened a bit ago. Mark really wanted to try it but he didn’t want to go alone so he said he was going to drag us and Hyuck with him.” Jeno said, his voice muffled by the fabric of the hoodie as it was pulled over his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, did any of you guys even look at any like... Reviews for this place?” Jaemin questioned as they met up with Mark and Donghyuck who were both arriving at the same time as the two boys. Donghyuck opened the door for the three boys, as Mark explained, “No, not really. But one of my friends from my class, Seungkwan- you know Seungkwan, right?  He recommended it. He told me he went with a couple of his friends and it was pretty good. Mark spoke to the person at the front, telling them a soft “four” when asked for the number of people in their party. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The four boys walked over to the booth at the wall, as they were directed and handed menus. Jaemin smiled a pretty smile that had the alpha waiter giving him a wolfish grin back, one that Jaemin </span>
  <em>
    <span>hoped</span>
  </em>
  <span> wasn’t supposed to mean anything. He wanted to be polite, not be given a number tonight, especially with the other boys with them. Jeno cleared his throat, presumably wanting to make some type of conversation, Jaemin assumed. They all took a look, at their menus, some of them, mostly Jaemin and Mark, letting out sounds of interest or surprise as they read through the impressive-looking menu. One half of the table chose what they’d be having, the other two still looking through the menu, and the waiter came back to take their drink order. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waiter this time lingered on Jaemin whenever he simply spoke </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> when he said he would like an iced tea. Jaemin sincerely hoped that the situation wouldn’t escalate, even though he knew alpha’s could be majorly dumb, he knew Donghyuck and Jeno for one thing. Jaemin elbowed Jeno, who had a blank look on his face, to tell him that he was going to the bathroom and if the waiter were to come back what he wanted to order. Jaemin looked around for a minute as he moved to stand up, locking eyes with the small bathroom sign on the wall, and began to walk quickly towards it. He got in, made sure to lock the door, and took a deep breath as he stared himself in the mirror, pulling out his phone to check the time. </span>
  <em>
    <span>6:13, </span>
  </em>
  <span>the small clock read on his phone. He supposed it wasn’t bad, for them getting here earlier than the time they were even supposed to be here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although he only came in here to take a breather, he still moved to wash his hands and give himself a look-over in the mirror. He stared at his light brown hair, moving to push it around. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe I should dye it. That would give me too much attention though. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaemin moved to leave, and walked back to the small booth in the corner, and walked past the waiter as he arrived there, probably holding their menus. “I ordered for you, Nana.” Jeno said softly, as Jaemin sat back down. “Thanks, Jeno.” Jaemin responded, giving him a large smile, which showed his bright white teeth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, I don’t know if that was just me, but that waiter made me super uncomfortable,” Mark started, shifting in his seat, with an uncomfortable expression twisting his face, “Like, he kept staring at me and Jaemin. You caught that, right, Jaemin?” Jaemin nodded, watching as Mark settled back, looking the slightest bit more comfortable when Donghyuck put his arm around the omega. “Yeah, he was pretty weird. Some alphas just don’t know how to stop, I guess.” Jaemin sighed as he leaned back, taking a sip of his iced tea after squeezing the lemon wedge into the glass. The boys waited for their food, making conversation, mostly the two omegas conversing about their classes as the two alphas talked about Jisung and Chenle. “Oh, I ran into those two today,” Jaemin confirmed, “they’re almost attached at the hip. Whenever you see Chenle, you see Jisung, and vice-versa. They’re basically a package deal, that you didn’t even ask for.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I was just with Renjun the other day and he said that Jisung was doing that stupid alpha posturing thing to him when he was talking to Chenle. All he was doing was talking too! Renjun seemed pretty surprised too, because he did it even though he’s a beta.” Mark said, his eyes going even wider as he joined into the two alpha’s conversation, reaching for his drink. Soon the waiter came back with their food and the two omega’s stayed silent as he placed their food in front of them, only speaking to say thank you. Jaemin ate slowly, savoring the taste of his food, almost choking from laughter as he watched Donghyuck scarf down most of his food and then steal some of Mark’s “secretly.” Their table was loud, as they all talked over each other while eating (read: mostly Donghyuck) and Donghyuck continued to taste everyone’s food, confirming that each dish was good, before naming Mark’s dish as the best. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mine is actually good though, you’re just saying that because you love Mark.” Jeno argued, as Donghyuck continued to sneakily eat bites of Mark’s food. He shrugged as he attempted to talk with his mouth full, only stopping when the omega next to him started lightly hitting his shoulder, hissing a quick, “You have manners. Use them!” before going back to eating his food. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, I’m so tired. I think I may have eaten too much, guys.” Donghyuck voiced from where he was sitting, slumped in the corner of the booth, looking like he was about to fall asleep. “Well, we tried to stop you. You made the executive decision here to taste-test everyone’s food.” Jaemin snarkily replied back to him, kicking him under the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mark rose his hand to signal the waiter and asked for the check, leaning into Donghyuck’s arm behind him. Jaemin stretched, tired from sitting in the same position for as long as he already was. The waiter was weirdly polite this time, walking back from their table like a robot. Jaemin took another sip of his iced tea, asking how they were gonna pay. “We can pay this time, but that means we </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to go out again and you have to pay.” Donghyuck answered. The waiter came back with the bill and Mark frowned when he opened it. Mark didn’t speak as he slid it over to Jaemin, both of the alpha’s looking on curiously. There was something written on the receipt, and it read: </span>
  <em>
    <span>To the sexy omega with the light brown hair, xxx-xxx-xxxx, Call me sometime. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaemin had a disgusted look on his face as he pushed it away from him and back to Mark. Mark then passed it to Donghyuck as he asked to read it, and Jeno soon after. </span>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaemin could hear a grumble from in Jeno’s chest as read the note, one that Jeno looked </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost</span>
  </em>
  <span> shocked to hear coming out of him, but he seemingly wasn’t affected by it. But as Donghyuck and Mark put the cash on the table and some inside for the bill, Jeno didn’t talk again, or at least until they had gotten out of the restaurant and they had hugged Mark and Donghyuck goodnight. They had started walking home together, the restaurant not being too far from Jeno’s apartment, where Jaemin left his stuff. “Jaemin?” Jeno’s voice broke the silence that had settled over the two boys as they crossed streets, the only sounds heard were cars passing, and the sounds of dogs barking. “Yeah, Jeno?” Jaemin responded, his voice like honey to Jeno. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just wanted to tell you something, but you have to be okay with it, right?” Jeno said after a slight pause, probably from being nervous about whatever he was about to tell Jaemin.  Jaemin was scared for a second, hoping Jeno wasn’t going to tell him he didn’t want to be his friend anymore, or that he knew that Jaemin might’ve </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe secretly liked him. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Of course, Jeno-ya.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I like you. I really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really, like you.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And I think now might not be the best time to say it, but that guy in there really pissed me off, Jaemin. How could he think he would be good for you? I’m sure he flirts with every omega that comes into there.” Jeno said, almost all in one breath, his walking pace speeding up immensely. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Of course. There it was. Jeno didn’t want to be friends with him anymo- wait. That’s not what Jeno said. He likes me? Holy shit, that is not what I was expecting. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jaemin? Jaemin?” Jeno said, once he realized that Jaemin had stopped walking right next to him. “You.. You like me? Jeno, you’re not lying? This isn’t just some alpha posturing thing? Is this like, a prank?” Jaemin asked, unbelieving that Jeno reciprocated even an ounce of the feelings that Jaemin </span>
  <em>
    <span>may or may not have had for him</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “Nana, I promise I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this. But I understand if you don’t like me back, we can just forget it happened.” Jeno said, his voice getting more crushed near the end of his sentence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now the two boys were standing in the middle of the sidewalk, and Jaemin suddenly jumped forward into Jeno’s chest, his eyes beginning to tear up. “I like you, Jeno, I really do. I was just worried because you could really have anyone else.. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I was just, scared,” Jaemin apologized, his voice muffled in Jeno’s chest, “I’m sorry, I really like you too.” Jeno smiled, one of the widest smiles he could probably pull off as he hugged Jaemin close to his chest, settling his head next to Jaemin’s. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<span>“So.. Jaemin. Does this mean we’re like.. Boyfriends now?” Jeno said, as they continued to walk home, the silence from before gone, and this time, hand in hand. “Well, I guess, it depends, Lee Jeno. Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Jaemin asked, after pretending to think about it for a second. “I’m not sure, Na Jaemin, do you want to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>boyfriend?” Jeno said, smiling as he brushed his cheek against Jaemin’s. He let out a fake sigh as he said, “Well, if I </span>
  <em>
    <span>have to.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” before kissing Jeno and then running in front of him. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading! please leave a comment, even just saying it was good, or leave a kudos! i hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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